I've added photos! Click "Belize photos" to the and right below. If you right click you can open the link in a new window.
July 24th through August 5th
New pictures have been loaded up or will be shortly by time you read this. They are mostly of plants but there is a surprise!
Not much action on the bike, we have our contractor working full time on the house, so I have to remain available to answer questions and supply water and materials. We went through a full bid process among several contractors, which meant I had to provide detailed plans and a contract. The winner was not chosen based strictly on price. He recently returned from the states so understood the engineering better (less likely to do things the Belizean way) and seemed to share my vision. By mid/late week, they should have the columns poured! Look for photos soon as the columns are up.
The contractor only supplies the labor and tools for the house construction. We supply the materials. One of those materials is the �bush sticks� used to support the beams and floor as they cure (see the photo on Flick�r). Therefore, the hired worker and myself have been cutting bush stick all week (we need over three hundred 11 � foot long pieces). It�s a little unnerving as you have to enter the jungle (where the snakes are), find suitable trees, cut them down, disentangle them from the vines, and haul them back to the home site. The trees need to be pretty straight and several inches in diameter. We use machetes to chop trees down here, I am constantly amazed at how effective and versatile a tool a machete is.
Our grapefruit is a bust, just about everyone of them has a single maggot in the middle of them. This may be the cause of the canker that I have seen posted at the citrus centers. Also, every farmer I talk to says that their citrus yields will be way down this year. Apparently, TS Arthur hit at the time when the blooms where out and washed the pollen away.
One of our local nurseries produces Jatropha, I have decided to order 100 plants and not wait on the pros (still have not received any replies to my emails yet). I talked to the gardener at the nursery, he says the plants begin producing at 6 months and are easily propagated. I have not seen the farmer from across the road, so have not been able to discuss any plans with him (he is very busy trying to get his orchards back together after TS Arthur). I need to order or build a calendaring press and biodiesel reactor so I can get the show on the road. Diesel jumped up another 47 cents a gallon this past week.
We took our friends from the states to the Mayan ruins at Cahal Peche and had lunch at Hanna�s in San Ignacio. They were big eyed! We got a guide for the ruins and they were not use to being able to go anywhere you wanted to at the site. In addition, there were several archeological digs going on so we got to see quite a bit of new terrain and how a dig is conducted.
A few days ago in the early morning I heard what I believe was a Jaguar howling in the jungle up by the house site. I tried to approach, but it quit making noise as soon as I popped up on top of the hill. On Sunday, I found Jaguar tracks on the road about two hundred yards from the cabin. I have a photo of the tracks on Flick�r. I�m not an expert, but judging by the size of the track, I would say that it�s a small female.
A real drencher of a storm today, no work of any kind, rivers and creeks way up, and mud everywhere. At least I get to see how effective the gutters and storm tarps are.
July 16th through July 23rd
New pictures have been loaded up or will be shortly by time you read this.
Saw my first Yellow Jaw/Tommy Goff/Fer de Lance. Scared the heck out of me, I was riding my bike through a low spot on the road when it took off from the center just a couple of feet from me. It was gray with black wedges, about 5 feet long but light bodied. It obviously didn�t want anything to do with me, but to have a poisonous snake that close to you is still a major heart starter. I probably managed my best sprint ever on the bike.
Our grapefruits are starting to come in, big yellow guys, I picked a few to try when they ripen for a day. Hope they are as sweet as our oranges but eatable instead of just good for juice. We have quite a few trees down by the creek that our current worker is clearing of the vines, undergrowth, and palms. I�m considering taking some to market if they turn out to be eaters and not juicers. I can probably sell them in bulk to the roadside vendors if that�s the case.
One of my favorite foods is coming in now, avocados. They are pretty cheap at the markets, but there are several trees a short walk from us. They come in two varieties, the standard small pear looking variety and a grapefruit size and shape type. The big one seems slightly sweeter. I have been frying them up with onions and peppers, and adding them to my scrambled eggs (yum).
No advancement on the Jatropha front, have not received any replies to my emails yet. I may have to get on the phone and see if I can raise a human. I mentioned the idea to the farmer across the road, he is interested and says he has twenty acres languishing right now that he would love to get some crop onto.
Looks like we will be taking down the beautiful Crabbo tree that is across the road from our cabin. I cleared around the trunk today so that we can find the Crabbo fruits easier. I found that the trunk was just about completely rotted through. If it fell, it can�t quite reach the cabin, but it could definitely hit the truck. The reason we are interested in the Crabbo fruits is that a friend of ours makes wine. Most of his efforts though are just too sweet because the wine is generally made from bananas, pineapples, or cashews. The crabbos are slightly tart and may produce a dry wine. We�ll see how it goes.
I have two cement contractors bidding on building the cement skeleton for the house. We will see how it goes. One is completely local but is supposed to do good but expensive work. The other has spent the last few years in the states and may have learned a few bad habits. The later seems to know more about the stuff that concerns me but you just never know.
Only two rides since my last posting, a real rain soaker of a hill workout (picked up bread again) and a good fast cruise on the flat course. The flat course was hot, dry, clear, and humid. The amount of fluid I lose in those conditions is astounding! The rain soaker ride was just about the most comfortable (temp wise) that I have had since we got here. Had an interesting reminder on checking your shoes before you put them on. I had left my cycling shoes outside because they were so wet after the hill workout. When I went to put them on, I detected a lump in the right one and quickly got my foot out. Turned out to be a huge toad but could have easily been a scorpion or snake.
Friends of ours from the states will be arriving in Belize on Monday for their honeymoon. I�ll have to come up with something touristry that we can do. Maybe run over to the Mayan ruins at Cahal Peche and then have lunch at Hanna�s in San Ignacio.
I have figured out why our internet service is so spotty (some days fast, others slow). Our provider only allows so much down load megabytes. If we exceed that, they reduce the speed of our service to a crawl for 24hours. We were exceeding it on a regular basis because we were getting streaming video in place of broadcast/cable TV. A couple of hours of the Daly Show/Colbert Report and we would exceed our allowed download amount. Even doing streaming audio has to be limited to total time to avoid adding up to our shut down amount.
July 10th through the 15th
I took a few days off the bike while I let my leg heal. I didn�t think it would bother my pedaling, but the constant stream of sweat probably wouldn�t have felt good! At any rate, today�s ride on the hill course went well except for the heat and humidity, summer in the tropics when there�s no cloud cover is brutal. I used the ride to pick up bread from our favorite bakery (Krophs) and save the fuel. The bakery is run by Mennonite nuns, not sure what they think of some guy showing up in his complete Lycra bike kit. The bike suffered its second casualty from the humidity and rough roads, the gear shifter for the chain rings froze up and then broke as I continued to try to get the unit working. Fortunately, the cable locked the derailleur on the big ring, I have fairly strong legs and Ok knees (for now), and so pedaling up hill in the big ring was hard but doable. I forgot my watch, so do not have any performance data.
On Sunday, we had our friends from Tea Kettle in; they are very knowledgeable on the local flora. I took them on the Ridge trail, and got a nice little lesson on what grows in our jungle. Turns out that what I thought were Orchids were not, and that we have a lot of varieties of orchids on our remaining orange trees. I have photos and will post on Flick�r soon. We did manage to stump them on two tree varieties. We had lunch of pasta salad and deviled eggs (yum), then played a game that was fun and I was fortunate enough to win. The game involved word play which plays to my strong suit. Later, we went over to the Mame tree and loaded them up with fruit. It was sort of reciprocal, since they always load us up with Patallia (a red fruit that grows on cacti). They also brought Papayas this trip. Papayas are sort of the Zucchini of the tropics. If you grow any, you grow a lot and they are large, so it�s very hard to use them all. We don�t grow any, so the contribution is always appreciated.
I think I have found the crop that I want to grow, Jatropha. It is a native Belizean tree that produces a fruit that can be cold processed into biodiesel. It takes about 5 years to get the trees to bear so I would like to get started. I have been given the name of a local contact that�s into the Jatropha, but have not received a reply to my email yet. The tree is also known to be good in tandem with other plants for its shade. Possibilities for concurrent crops include Cacao (chocolate) and Coffee bean plants.
We have cleared an area and are preparing it for a garden. Seeds seem to be hard to come by though; we may have to just take from our larder. Unlike the US, the crops here are not irradiated to sterilize the seeds and the majority of the bought seeds are not genetically modified to produce sterile seeds. Lisa has been doing the majority of the work, Lexi and I helped with the initial clearing and weed pulling. I bordered the area with logs to assist with keeping the jungle out and removed all the old orange tree roots. Lisa has been pulling all the little weeds so that we can tell what to keep and what to hoe.
There is a juvenile Armadillo running around on the land. Sierra has managed to mouth it once but it does not seem any worse for the wear. Other than that, the only new animal to report is a Green Tree lizard that dropped down next to Lisa while she was removing weeds from the graveled area around the cabin. She managed to get a shot of it before it took off. We have been informed that August is snake month, all the baby snakes will hatch and emerge at that time. In preparation, we have had the 10 acres around the cabin mowed and I have been macheting what the bush hog couldn�t get to. The barer the land, the least likely the snakes will try to make a new home here. The biggest problem is the garbage pit; it attracts mice and rats which in turn attract snakes. I try to keep it burned down as best as I can, but the rain makes everything so damp that nothing in there burns well, especially since a lot of our garbage is vegetable and fruit rinds. We thought about composting, but the thought of providing an additional spot for the flies to breed just withers the idea.
July 3rd through July 9th
New photos are up on Flick�r. I have some interesting before and after TS Arthur shots of our river.
The girls are back and the place is much brighter with them around. Judging by my last posting, I guess I really am a social animal and a fair weather person.
The weather has brightened up a bit. I have gotten in a few rides; I seem to be improving with each outing. My flat course ride is getting up to an 18mph average now (still not fast, but at least I�m improving). My speed will probably increase on my next ride too; the fenders on the bike became the first casualties of the road roughness and rust. The flat course is actually a rolling route with four climbs. The climbs resemble compressed sand dunes, heading towards the coast; you first encounter a long steady uphill grind followed by a steep short downhill. With the head wind and the long uphill grind, the trip to the coast can really be tough. It usually takes 3 minutes less to get back then it does to get to the turn around point.
A new bird has turned up around the cabin, Crimson Collared Tanagers, to complement the Blue-grey Tanagers. The Kiskadees are still chasing off most of the other birds from the Crabbo trees except for the really large Chestnut-headed Oropendolas. There are some birds flying around that resemble small Pheasants, but I have not been able to identify them yet. Friends of ours have a Hummingbird feeder that attracts about a dozen varieties, it�s really quite amazing. One is not much bigger than a thimble and another has a 2 inch curved beak, all are very colorful.
I�ve gotten to put in so more effort on the Ridge trail. Today I pushed it over the crest of the hill top and am working down to the creek trail. There was not much new growth or blow down on the Ridge or Creek trails that needed attention. I tried to do that yesterday but I had a little accident with machete and managed to put a 2� gash in my shin. It looked bad, but it quit bleeding quickly and managed the � mile walk back to the cabin with only a little blood filling the top of my sock. A little shaving of the leg hair around the gash, a liberal dosing with peroxide, and a clean dressing was all it took to make it right.
I am working on a map of our land with the creeks, trails, and other land marks put down. Should make it easier to figure out what I�m talking about. As soon as I get it done, I�ll load it up to Flick�r. I have also been putting together a new blog; it�s an outlet for my frustrations with the political and economic situations in the US. It probably won�t be of much interest to anyone but me, but being this far away from the whirlwind, it�s the best I can do. I am setting it up so that readers can post their own thoughts and opinions. The new blog hosting site seems to allow more options, I may move this one to there also so that I can make this one a little more user friendly and interesting in layout and content.
June 24th through July 2nd
Sorry for the lack of updates, the weather over us and the satellite uplink in Mexico makes internet connection spotty at best. And forget about streaming audio/video or uploading anything from my end with a 1 watt transmitter. When the weather clears, I�ll also upload photos.
Rain, rain, go away, come again another day. The rain pattern has inverted in the last couple of weeks so that now the nights are clear and it rains all day (except when it rains all day and night). In the last 10 days, I got in two rides and got wet on one anyway. Its not that riding in a tropical rain is a hardship, it�s just that the conditions impair me and the drivers on the roads. The last thing I need is to get hit by somebody who�s windshield wipers haven�t been changed in a decade. And of course our bulldozed area is nothing but a mud pit, so trying to keep the cabin clean is about as difficult as finding $2 gas in downtown LA. Forget about laundry, there isn�t a period long enough to hang the wet clothes on the line to dry out (we don�t have enough power to run the dryer). Hanging them up inside is a waste of time, in the near 100% humidity, even with two fans blowing on them, they still will not dry out. My constant companions are rust, mold, and mildew.
So here I sit on our little porch, dirty, damp, and smelly, day in and day out, ensconced behind the storm tarps in the gloom enduring storm after storm, seeing just enough blue sky here and there to remind me that something does occupy the heavens other than just rain. Maybe if I had moved here from Seattle, it wouldn�t be such a shock, but coming from a desert environment where a good year of rain is 20�, getting that much a week is starting to drag me down. I�m an outdoor person; I prefer to be doing things outside, wearing shorts, with the sun on my face. You have two choices if your going outdoors here, wear rain jackets, pants, and hats to keep you dry (and so hot you can�t do anything more than a slow plod), or go ahead and get soaked so that you come back as a prune. Unless you are somehow immune and possess some sort of natural insect propellant, you do not go out without wearing pants, long sleeve shirts, hats, and head nets; the rainy season has caused an explosive growth in the fly population. And just why is it that every flying insect goes for the ears? Maybe it has something to do with a mammal�s general lack of hair and capillaries close to the surface in those areas. As for the sun, I haven�t seen more than a few minutes of that fabled star for weeks. I think I�m starting to figure out why places like Seattle have the highest suicide, alcoholism, and drug abuse rates in the US.
On to other news; the worker I hired went back to Belmopan 2 weeks ago and I haven�t seen him since. That�s really a drag, now it�s just me trying to keep up with the explosive vegetation growth by cutting back the weeds and trees from the roads and the cabin site. I�ve had to blow off doing anything new or trying to push the Ridge and Creek trails into a loop (hope they don�t completely grow over before I get back to them).
Economics here in Belize have really taken a downturn due to fuel prices (about $5.65US a gallon) and the effects of TS Arthur on the agricultural output. Because of fuel prices, locally produced fruits, vegetables, eggs, and meats have doubled and tripled in price. TS Arthur wiped out the rice and wheat crops (and seriously compromised the fruit groves) so now both these staples are 100% imported, when their available, most of the time the shelves are empty. Even black beans are in short supply. Flour is so rare, our favorite bakery, Krophs (sp?) shut down a couple of weeks ago. Of course, all this has an insidious effect on the local�s ability to earn an income. With the crops wiped out, there is no hiring going on. The Government had to put all their resources into rebuilding infrastructure so there is not any money for relief. The previous Government was so full of thieves; the current Government has to borrow all monies they are spending. I�m sure Belize will recover from TS Arthur (providing some hurricane doesn�t wipe out the rest of the country), but they are really behind the eight ball on the energy costs. All energy is imported, whether it is electricity or fuel. The fuel prices are also affecting us also. I don�t drive unless I�m out of food and fuel for the generator. That means I leave the cabin about every 7 days.
On the flora and fauna front, there really is nothing new to report save for a curious gold beetle. Apparently, most mammals and birds sort of hibernate during the rainy season. The only birds I�ve seen are Grackles, Kiskidees, and Buzzards. I have not seen any mammals, not even a track. Even most of the reptiles seem to have disappeared. The one new beast I have encountered is a beetle that is gold in color, not like a natural gold color; think Mattels� HotWheels chromed gold. I have a photo that I�ll try to upload.
June 20th through the 23rd
I posted a few new pictures yesterday.
Had a pretty good week of bike riding, a little over 100 miles in three days. I added about six miles and another climb to the mountain route, on the flat course I�ve gotten my average speed over 17mph. Maybe I�m starting to get the leg endurance and power back. I have a little preliminary data on the mountain course (currently riding about 32 miles), the low point is 255� and the high is 826� with a lot of undulation, false tops, and screaming down hills. I would put the total vertical gain over the length of the ride at about 3k�. For those in the know, there are three climbs that are steeper than the third step on Lake Mary road but from 2 to 3 times longer, boy do they hurt! (but they hurt so good). After seven rides I am happy to report that the drivers give me plenty of room and I have yet to be honked at/flipped off by some idiot who doesn�t like me riding on his road. Hitting a bike rider or pedestrian is treated very seriously in Belize. A driver involved in a fatal collision is immediately charged and remanded to prison until guilt or innocence is established in the court of law.
The bike racing season is over for a little while here with the exception of the single speed beach cruiser stuff. About once a month, they race beach cruisers out of Dangriga with different start/finish points. I have made contact with the organizer and got my number on the call list. Don�t have a bike right now, but they are really cheap and the group frowns on technologic wonders. They really want to make this racing for all with no entry fees and low money outlay for equipment.
The rainy season has settled into a rhythm of a short night time rain (some lighting) with mostly overcast/partially cloudy days with an occasional sprinkle. In the evening there is a heavy perfume of Orange and Lilac blossoms wafting in on the breeze. The aroma reminds me of walking into a senior citizens home when I was a kid, very pleasant actually. The rain and overcast has moderated the temperatures (mid 80�s) and the humidity has been hanging in the 70�s, pretty comfortable unless I�m working hard outside with no breeze (or forward momentum on the bike). In which case I sweat like a pig and can only go a couple of hours without a serious rest. The problem here is that sweat does not evaporate like it did in the 8% humidity of Flagstaff; my clothing ends up being completely drenched and acting more like insulation than moisture transporter. The biggest drawback is that the little Black flies have come out with a vengeance; I try not to spend anytime outside without being pretty well covered up. They are especially bad in the morning. Fortunately, our little screened porch is very comfortable and I have plenty to keep me busy and entertained, not to mention the parade of flora and fauna right outside the door (the occasional nap is nice too).
June 16th through the 19th
The girls are back in the States for a few weeks keeping up with license requirements and visiting relatives. Lexi is officially on summer break. She hasn�t come up with a summer project (our version of a summer job) yet. We had quite a bit of excitement trying to get to the airport. On the way, a fuel line broke on the truck, took 17 gallons to drive 35 miles (at about $5.65US a gallon). I had to put the girls in a taxi at Belmopan to finish the trip. They (the taxi drivers) saw us coming, charged us $75US for the 45 mile trip. At least the repair on the truck went well, with parts, labor, and loaning me his van to chase down the parts, it cost about $110US. He even started working on it the moment I drove into his garage, no appointment needed and he stopped working on other vehicles to do it.
Today (the 19th) it is raining, mostly just a gentle shower, but occasional torrential down pours. Still, none of it is like what came down during TS Arthur. On my ride Tuesday, I noticed that there had been some (about a � dozen) very large (in excess of 3 acres each) mudslides way back in some of the valleys. Another indication of how atypical that storm was. There is some lighting around, so I turn off the satellite receiver and disconnect the transmit/receive cables to try to avoid blowing out the unit, replacement cost a lot here. Of course, shutting down the satellite means no internet, Air America, Green 960, XM radio, pretty much all my connections to the outside world.
I spent some time yesterday working on the Ridge and Creek trails. The ridge trail was in good shape, I was mainly using the GPS to try and figure out where I was in relationship to our property lines. Turns out that there is quite a bit of elevation change across our land, from the cabin (~400�) to the eventual water tank site is ~100� (that�s about 47 psi). The current end point of the Ridge trail is >800� of elevation. You could get a pretty good workout and training session riding the mountain bike up and down that. I hadn�t seen The Creek trail since before TS Arthur. The bottom half was really a mess and required quite a bit of hacking and clearing to be passable again. The top half was pretty clean and just required some minor cleanup. You would have to be Hans (No Way) Rey to bike the Creek trail. According to the GPS, the terminus of both trails are pretty close to each other (albeit, about 200 vertical feet apart), I may be able to turn them into a loop trail yet. Of course it would take some major work to switchback a trail up the hill.
We have hired a laborer for a little while. Philippe is from Guatemala and is Enrique�s cousin. He is about my age, a heck of a worker, starts at 6:00, stops at 5:00 (with a 1 hour lunch), and says that Enrique�s problem was smoking ganja (sp?). I never caught him at it, but I had my suspicions. I have been putting him to work beating the jungle back from our roads; the rain has really caused an explosion of growth. I do not want the roads to revert back to what it was when we got here in January. Even with rain, the road is in such good shape that I have not even needed 4WD to negotiate the hills. After he finishes with the roads, I think I�ll put him to work clearing the growth from the north side of the creek section that runs the length of the bulldozed 20 acres. Getting rid of the dense vegetation in and around the creek would expose the rock bottom, increase the flow rate, and reduce the stagnant situation we encountered at the end of the dry season. Also, having access to the creek at all points would be pleasant, the sight and sound of running water is very soothing.
June 13th through the 15th
One more observation about the effects of TS Arthur, the river that drains our valley has changed its course in many places now. The most obvious is looking upstream from the single lane bridge in Middlesex, the river use to come in from the right, now it comes in from the left where a tiny stream use to be. Some water still arrives from the right but it�s a trickle compared to before the storm. The section that the river arrives from now looks like it has been there forever. The new path is 40� wide with a rock bottom and no vegetation whereas it used to be just a small opening in thick jungle embankment. One of these days I�ll have to get upstream (maybe drag a kayak with me for the return trip) and explore because the river�s new route brings it closer to our property.
So we have gone from two tropical storms (that produced a record amount of damage) to a somewhat constant drizzle with occasional downpours, and now no rain and sunshine for the last two days. I�m not complaining, the break means we can get laundry completely dry and fight back the mold that crept in with the near 100% humidity for days on end. And judging by the reports from the US Midwest, we are not the only ones that faced some major rainfall. At least we didn�t have tornados (the Midwest is on track for a record number) or Hurricanes (yet) to deal with.
Have not done much this week as far as house building goes, I�ll try and locate local contractors in the coming week. I�ve spent some time on the jungle (now called the ridge trail) trail but need to use the GPS to make sure I have not strayed off our land and to check on connecting the creek trail with the ridge trail. I built a small water director for a low point behind the cabin. It�s main design is to reduce the water velocity so that the silt can fill in a low spot and prevent water from flowing under the cabin in another major downpour. I also had a load of sand/gravel delivered so that an area of washout in front of the driveway could be filled back in. I dammed up a couple of areas at the creek near the house site. We used to have a nice little waterfall and pool but the storms washed them out. My goal is to keep the area fairly free of tall vegetation so that we can hear and see the creek from the house when we eventually (hopefully) get it done.
Lisa has made a new friend, Charlie the Big-headed Anole (lizard). He hangs out at the Palapa when Lisa sits out there to read. He can also be spotted sitting on the bikes waiting for some fly to stray to close. I have spotted on several occasions a Gray Fox. They are very small here, about the size of a Terrier. The girls ran across the tracks of an Anteater (Northern Tamandua). They leave quite a nasty track what with 4 huge claws on each paw and they are very dangerous for dogs that may attack them. We spotted one briefly as it went over the hill behind the cabin one day, they are pretty good size, maybe about 45 pounds. I have discovered that our creek harbors both eels and crabs. I like both as sushi, perhaps there is meal waiting in the water for us!
So as I said in my last posting, I am back on the bike! I�ve done 4 rides this week for a total of over 100 miles. My speed is slow, I average 16.7mph on the flat course. Although in my defense, I am on a slack geometry cross bike sporting two sets of brake handles, an aggressive tire tread with a 32 profile, and full fenders. However, the bike is the perfect choice for here, I am able to ride the 1&1/2 miles of gravel road to and from our cabin (with two very rough and steep climbs), the thickness of tire tread can handle the rough roads, and the steel frame tames the ride. It feels like I am pushing max leg power output but the cardio system is not even close to the top end (not even breathing hard yet). I�ll have to dig out one of my heart rate monitors to confirm that though. The only company I have had though is to occasionally pass one of the locals on their beach cruisers. I�ll give it another dozen rides or so to see if I can get back to where I was in December, then I�ll try and hook up with the Dangriga or Belmopan riders to see where I stand. My eventual goal is to get back into racing, Belize is quite a hotbed of road racing.
June 9th through the 12th
The weather has been pretty predictable lately, therefore, I�ve been able to ride my bike! Keep in mind that I have not done a real ride since December, so I am somewhat out of shape where leg endurance is required. On Monday I did 24 miles of very hilly riding, on Wednesday I did mainly a flat land effort. If you go North on the Hummingbird there is an immediate climb to one of the highest paved points in the country (I�ll take an altitude meter soon to give you an idea of the grade). If you continue north you will cross a flat plain and then climb again, should be a great work out when I get back in shape. To the south is basically a flat course to the coast and back (maybe a few hundred feet in elevation change to our place, I did about 32 miles). I have been surprised that the legs are a little tired but not overly sore, maybe there is some muscle memory going on. At any rate, between the riding and the rock climbing workouts, I feel like I have some direction for the rainy season.
I think I am very close to completing our pristine jungle trail. After 4 different efforts, it feels like I am about at the top of the hill. I will use my better half�s GPS to find out where exactly I am in relation to our property lines. The trail seems to travel through several levels of altitude change, even though it�s only a couple hundred feet. There are different palms and vines as you advance. I know some people that are experts on tropical flora, I really want them to come over and give me an education in what I�m looking at. The last crew of workers I had on hand cut a trail along the creek to about the limits of our property, it would be really cool if I could connect the two and have a nice hiking loop.
The Crabble trees are attracting a lot of birds (even though the fruit is not ripe). We have had several visits from Toucans (Collared Aracari) and yesterday, Montezuma Oropendolas came for a visit. They are very large birds so the Kiskidees were unable to chase them off. Also, Arthur (our male mutt) is no longer allowed outside without being on a leash. He chased after some Crested Guans and was gone for a couple of hours. We hate to do it, but there are a lot of ways for a dog to die in the jungle (Jaguars, Anteaters, Snakes, poisonous plants, just plain getting lost in the dense foliage). It would be a very sad situation if he didn�t make it back home. Around our place we have a lot of Turkey Vultures (in a place with a lot of life, there is also a lot of death), but in Dangriga a couple of days ago, we saw Black Vultures (a rarer breed).
One of the toughest problems we are encountering during the rainy season is control of mold. The spores exist all the time in the air, they just need a place to land and enough moisture to propagate. Unfortunately, the humidity we have right now is perfect for their needs. Sun shine does wonders to kill it off, but is rare right now. Stuff like bleach and Lysol will kill them off but does nothing to eliminate the stain. If anyone out there has any ideas, we are all ears.
June 5th through the 8th
So begins the rainy season and the chore of keeping oneself busy and sane. After months of rushing headlong to get the cabin in place and ready to live in, prepping the house and its site, getting rid of our dilapidated orange grove, and working on the cabin and keeping it�s systems running the abrupt slow down has caught me off guard. I will continue to do what I can outside, but it has to fit in between storms.
The new trail is a good example. I have been working on a jungle trail to the highest point on our land. Should be a pleasant walk when it�s done, but right now it�s a lot of machete work in sloppy conditions. The storm even caused me to have to clean up previous done sections because of blown down trees and vine tangles (it can take hours to clean out the vine tangles). I do not know what I�ll do at the trail�s terminus, I guess I�ll have to wait to see what�s there first.
Of course the long awaited concentration on my book can begin, although I am having trouble getting into the mood. I have started by doing basic research again. Hopefully that will get the creative energies flowing again. This dang internet though provides so many opportunities to slack off.
One of the things I am hoping will occur, is that the rainy season will settle into a somewhat predicable pattern so that I can get out on the bike again. So far this year, according to the old timer locals, this season has been very atypical. No one can even recall a hurricane doing as much damage as this tropical storm did to our inland communities. I have started my rock climbing exercises again, maybe I can make use of those skills someday also. A lot of new rock walls popped into view during the dry season, I would like to visit them someday.
One thing that I did complete this week is the storm covers for the screened porch. Having rain blow in and make unusable our main living area is an untenable situation. Basically, I hung tarps up on the eaves that can be lowered, raised, and secured easily. This allows us to have our views when weather permits and to block wind driven rain at other times. I need to modify the controls with some heavier rope and eyelets, but it works OK right now.
The storms covered the house footers that we poured just prior to the bad weather with a couple of feet of mud. I am Ok with this as it will protect the site from erosion. I still need to find a cement contractor, maybe he can find or has developed methods to continue to work in this weather.
June 3rd and 4th
After perusing the internet news on the effects of TS Alma/Arthur we thought it wise to get supplies down in Dangriga (Belize has been declared a disaster area). Wow, what a mess, it is very apparent that TS Alma/Arthur was atypical and not your standard rainy season weather. A family about a half mile away from our highway entrance died when their house was washed away, it was strewn throughout an orange grove. The creek that runs just feet from our friends the Evelyns� house, broke it�s banks and ran through their house for hours (we spent Wednesday helping them cleanup). The high water mark looks to be about 10 feet (in New Hope) judging by the homes and trees affected. There were a lot families forced out of their homes by water running through them (even those on 8� stilts). The Hummingbird is really damaged, lots of new potholes and some sections washed out. There was a 170� bridge on the Southern highway washed away. The rain washed rocks, dirt, and debris into culverts forcing the water over the roadways. Buried water pipes were broken when rain uncovered trenches. It�s amazing more people were not killed (count is 5 at this point). We have been seeing people and businesses dragging their cars back home after they were washed away. At every bridge, as far as you can see up and downstream, all the vegetation has been washed away leaving a bank to bank rock bottom. I cannot imagine what these rivers and creeks looked like at full flood stage. Repairs proceed at breakneck speeds, everywhere there is heavy equipment cleaning up the debris (don�t know where the trucks are taking their loads to). Just about everyone has been moving their waterlogged possessions out of their homes to dry out. This afternoon, we actually have sunshine peeking through the clouds, but it�s expected to end Friday with another round of TS�s.
June 2nd
TS Arthur turned ugly last night. We had heavy rain, high wind, and continuous lighting for about five hours. No one here got much sleep last night. Let me explain what I mean by heavy rain, high wind, and continuous lighting. The rain came down so hard that the water was running over the ground in deep sheets, our little cabin was actually standing in the middle of a shallow river. An inspection of the creek this morning showed that a lot of the vegetation (including some trees) had been torn out. The creek rose so much that it actually crossed the road, that�s about a 6� rise (not to mention the creek bed is about 40� across at that point). Fortunately, the A frame structure holding the freshwater pump survived nicely and was completely operational this morning, the only work I did on it was to shovel sediment off the rock walkway we built. Many of our previously filled in trenches are now open again, the water removed all the dirt and rocks exposing the plumbing and wiring. Our cabin came through it without a leak, only the screened porch admitted rain. High winds amounted to sustained 40mph winds, forcing us to close windows. Fortunately the temps were nice so comfort was not an issue. Lisa and I have never encountered lighting like we had last night. It was continuous, no break between strikes at all (fortunately mostly cloud to cloud). The night was lit up so well that I watched the whole thing without any lights what so ever. This morning�s cleanup consisted of removing downed trees from road, shoveling sediment off the rock walkway at the freshwater pump site, and retrieving the pump I use to get water for the cement mixer from the creek bed (it got washed away but seems OK).
However, although we were never in danger, the people south of us in Sitte River did not fare so well. Most of the run off from the storm converged in their area causing (at last report) 7 deaths and the destruction of one of the Southern Highway�s bridges. Helicopters have been flying up and down our valley all day ferrying injured and stranded people to Belmopan.
Today is the first day in about 7 that we have had periods of no rain. The last 7 days have pretty much been a continuous drizzle. The Accuweather satellite map shows that the cloud cover is actually thinning (yeah!). I hung a clothesline in the main room of the cabin, hung up some laundry that we have been trying to dry for a week, and aimed our two fans at it set to high speed. It seems to be working, I have been able to fold some items up and we have towels that are not soaking wet. We really could use a day of sunshine to get some laundry done and dried.
May 31rst and June 1rst
I loaded some new pictures yesterday for those interested.
Before TS �Alma� could dissipate, TS �Arthur� popped up off the coast so now it looks like at least another week of non-stop rain. I am amazed at the soil�s ability to soak up the moisture, there are no standing puddles but the rivers and creeks are flowing big time. Another plus to the rain, the jungle has shaken off the dry season dust so that the colors are vibrant and alive instead of dull and muted, can�t wait to see it under a sunny sky. Of course there are some new problems, like how do you dry clothes where everyone uses a clothesline and the relative humidity is 97% (today with rain).
The bug hatch occurred for a second day in a row (very small hatch on the third day). After some study, talking to locals, posting on the �Belize Forums�, and emailing friends in country we have found out that they are a flying termite (locals call them Flood Flies) that come out with the start of the rainy season. After the first few days they should disappear until next year. Being a termite answers the question of why they were so interested in a wooden cabin. I read accounts of newcomers that nearly died of suffocation because they were living in open thatched huts, not aware of the bugs, and the swarms were so large that they basically enveloped the people. What a way to go, gagging on termites!
Lisa and Lexi attended a birthday party at the Evelyns yesterday for three year old Carleen. The Evelyns are an extremely nice family with a daughter Lexi�s age. They have even adjusted their cooking for our vegetarian needs (we get tamales from them, very good, carrots are used as the filler). The oldest son does our bush hogging, the middle two kids are at the University of Belize majoring in IT, and the youngest one is in HS. The wife�s mother and sister (plus her two kids) live with them also. Dad spends half his time in the US running his car repair business and the other half at home in Belize. A very large but happy family. Speaking of tamales, they do not wrap the tamales in corn husks here, they use banana leaves. The first time I saw this (at a road side vendor); I had to stop to find out why the tamales were green instead of brown.
I had some work done on the truck this week. Had a flat repaired for $4.50 US, they even took the wheel off the truck to do it. I was getting a little squeal from the rear brakes, so I had them replaced at a local place up the road. I provided the brake shoes, pretty standard for the vehicle�s owner to bring in the parts and supplies for the mechanic to install. The shop owner had to leave before the job was completed so his help finished up, everything turned out fine. However, because the owner left, I have not been charged yet, they just expect me to come back when he returns from the states in a couple of weeks (maybe I have an honest face). This is not the first time I have encountered this, turns out that the company that has been doing our bulldozing and digging the house foundation usually requires 50% down before they send out the equipment. In both cases they not only didn�t ask for the 50%, but they even waited for me to come into the office to pay the bill after the work was done. In addition, the company that delivers our sand and gravel doesn�t charge us until after the delivery. This is not the standard Belizean way; I don�t know why I am getting different treatment. Maybe it�s because I come into the offices and charm the owners (LOL!). Those that don�t know me personally will have no idea just how ludicrous that statement is, I am not known for my tactfulness.
The prices for imported items (like rebar and fuel) are going through the roof. Diesel fuel was $4.83US a gallon in Belmopan and rebar (at my discount) is $37US for 40� of 5/8ths. All increases are being blamed on $130US a barrel crude oil (I won�t get on my soapbox about oil men in the White House). Local services (like phone and energy) are also going up. Most metals come from Guatemala. There is a thriving business where people in Belize cut up worn out vehicles, trucks from Guatemala pick up the scrap, take it back to the smelters, and then bring finished goods back to Belize. Apparently this arrangement works because energy costs are a lot less in Guatemala.
May 27th through May 30th
Currently we are sitting through our first named tropical storm �Alma�. NOAA says we can expect up to 20 inches of rain from her, mostly in the Guatemala and Honduras highlands, we�ll probably get much less. This will probably be our lead in to the rainy season; Accuweather is showing rain for our location for the next 7 days. The rain has solved one worry though; the creek has risen about 8 inches and cleared out the stagnation and algae. In addition, temperatures have significantly fallen to the point that we can leave the fans off and save some power. The downsides are that construction pretty much stops, delivery of building supplies is out (due to road condition), and we have intermittent satellite connections.
The rain also brought out a big bug hatch. Not sure what they were, a flying termite or a Lacewing maybe, but there were hundreds of thousands of them and they wanted in the house bad. Once they landed on the house, they shed their wings and then looked for an opening, which they found in spades, we killed thousands of them in the cabin. Their design made them ideal candidates to gain access, very skinny and flexible. They were not biters so at least we had that going for us. The hatch lasted several hours, kept us pretty busy for about two. The house this morning was full of wings and carcasses (ugh), cleanup has been a priority. I�m not sure what I can do to prevent a future invasion, I�ve been concentrating on Scorpion size insects, these skinny guys even tried to squeeze through the screen webbing (they were not successful).
Where we were from in Arizona, when it rains, the animal life pretty much shuts down. Here, it doesn�t stop, the birds and bugs are flying, the reptiles and amphibians are moving about, and only the mammals seem to have slowed down. I guess in a climate where you can get up to 200 inches of rain a year, evolution has provided solutions so that life can go on. By the way, we saw a White Nosed Coati scampering over the bull dozed area the other day, the dogs let him know that this is their territory now.
A couple of days before the rains started, I burned several smaller piles of dried out vegetation that was lying close to the bull dozed area. Several times when the flames reached into the non-bull dozed stuff, the fire would get a hold of a vine that is extremely flammable. Even completely green, these things burst into flames and out gas something that burns like gasoline, it practically explodes. I need to find the vine and see if there is some viable way to exploit the fuel source, anything that burns that hot has got to have a use.
Without TV, we have found other ways to entertain ourselves in the evening. Typically we play a game, like Spades, Hearts, Rummikub, Sequence, or Scrabble. It�s nice to see that we can be confined in a small space (320 square feet) and have not been at each others throats. I do have to remind myself though that it was not that long ago in the US that a structure this size was pretty standard, that not even radio was available, and families were much larger. Maybe were just rediscovering that period. Even though we do have access the internet and streaming audio/video, assorted DVDs/CDs, we seem to enjoy each others company even more here.
Health wise, I have experienced three positive things. I have not had a cold sore since we got here; pretty amazing given the (perceived) stress I have been enduring with labor and mechanical issues. Also, my tinnitus (ringing in the ears) has gone away. Maybe the tin foil hat people were right about the cell phone towers. I�m sure my aerobic endurance has decreased (no rides or running for extended periods), but my pure strength due to the heavy labor has gone up. In addition (maybe due to the heavy labor), my chronic backache has disappeared. Who knew that getting out of the rat race would have such a positive effect? I have to say that we eat better here too. Most meals consist of fresh vegetables and fruits, homemade breads and pastas, or rice and beans. No highly processed goods are in our larder and Lisa does most of our dessert baking.
May 19th through May 26th
Oops! Looks like I lagged on the posts again.
Well, after two weeks of work, the new guys all quit. Maybe it�s my breath. One quit because the work is too hard and the sun too hot, hard for me to believe since I�m twice his age, doing the exact same work, and have spent the last quarter century in a place were the humidity can dip into the single digits. The other three got a call back from Belize National Energy. I can�t blame them for going though, better pay and opportunity to advance. We did manage to get quite a bit done, the rebar for the first floor is complete and we poured the footers. At this point, I think I�ll just hire a builder to complete the cement work, that�s the heavy end of the construction that is too much for me to handle on my own or with intermittent help. If I had the cement shell in place, the rest of the construction is pretty light weight stuff that could be handled solo with the aid of block and tackle rigs. However, we are on the cusp of rainy season now and even though cement will harden under water, I don�t know if the builders will take the risk.
Speaking of rainy season, I need to do a few things to our little cabin to prep it for the weather to come. I need to add gutters and direct the catchment to the downhill side of our location, build a walkway (just local cut wood) to the generator to keep me out of the mud, and add an additional screen/awning to the porch to keep the rain out. The last is really important as we practically live on the porch.
The dry season has really pushed our little creek to the edge of being usable as our water supply. Only about 70 feet downstream of our pickup point, the water becomes very stagnant in a large pool and would be difficult to pump and filter for our use. I have had to battle weed and algae growth on pretty much a daily basis to keep our pickup in clear water. The location that we will be pumping from at the house site has very good water still, but is a � mile away from the cabin. Still, I think I will check into putting all our water stuff in at the house site and then running a conduit down to the cabin (maybe they sell PVC in rolls). I could power it with a small PV cell/battery/inverter. I already have a pump in place and delivering water for our cement work. I would not want to lay a � mile of conduit in 20 foot sections though. The elevation change between the house site and the cabin would provide plenty of pressure and eliminate the cabin water pressure pump which is one our largest consumers of current.
Speaking of current, I think I will import some additional PV panels. Between solar and wind, I only have about 2kw on hand, and it takes about 2.2kw for the bulk charge of the batteries in the am (and I want to add more batteries). I would like to rely more on wind in the future, but the sun is more reliable. Wind power is cheaper and we do have good wind speed on the property so it should be doable, but I need about a 3kw unit. A wind generator of that size requires a pretty hefty tower. Relying on the diesel generator is costly (2.5 gallons a day) and nerve racking, a small break down on the wrong day means a refrigerator full of ruined food and no distilled water. I should check into a butane distiller, it would be cheaper to run and would eliminate our largest consumer of power (800 watts). We pretty much run the distiller whenever the generator is on. I did check on having BNE run power to our property, at about $60kUS, I don�t think it�s in the cards.
One very good thing has occurred; I seem to have lost my histamine response to the black fly bites. No more itching or swelling, a very pleasant result. The locals said that eventually that would happen. Apparently they were correct.
The Crabble trees are attracting Toucans now (even though the fruit is not ripe yet). However, because it�s the height of the nesting season, the Kiskadee�s chase them off immediately. The Ma�me trees are dropping their fruit and I have two ripening on the stoop now, I�ll let you know how they taste. Other local fruits and vegetables are Cho-Cho�s (a potato substitute, really pretty good raw or cooked) and Wax apples. Most of our fruits and vegetables come from roadside vendors who picked it that day (and the cost is unbelievably cheap). A vegan could eat really well here for less than a buck a day.
